


left my ghost along the shore

by justsleepwalkin



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Dysfunctional Relationships, F/M, Pete's World, Possessive Behavior
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 06:29:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11098836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justsleepwalkin/pseuds/justsleepwalkin
Summary: She realizes, months later, that when he whisperedI love youin her ear, it wasn't about love, it was about competition.





	left my ghost along the shore

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Radical Face's "Sunn."  
> ([♫](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCWVPf_6cFs))

Neither of them understand freedom, or choice, when the Doctor leaves them on that beach. Their hands are tightly wound together, and that's the only understanding they have. This bond, this connection. _It's wrong_ , rings through their heads, but they can't pick it apart. Thoughts won't coalesce. It's wrong, wrong, _wrong_ , but neither of them know why.

It takes time, so much time, for them to truly know. Secrets hidden from the other, so good at keeping up appearance, make it seem like everything is alright, something they both equally learned from the Doctor.

She realizes, months later, that when he whispered _I love you_ in her ear, it wasn't about love, it was about competition. It was a way to one-up the Doctor, rub it in his face. The only way that he, a discarded, incorrect copy, could win. She's sure that if he could have gotten away with it, he would have turned a smug-eye back to his lookalike. 

They go back to that beach, sometimes. Just the two of them. It lessens the bitter feelings, the abandonment. It makes things easier. 

They grow, stumbling the entire way. 

He realizes, months later, that when she whispers _I love you_ to him in the darkness, it isn't about love, it is about possession. He wants to blame the Doctor, but it's so long ago that now, now he can only blame himself.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know. 
> 
> I do actually _like_ this pairing sometimes, but this had partially been written for awhile, and I finally gave it enough substance that I was like "whatever I'll post it."


End file.
